DONKEY racing is packing in the crowds and enthusiasts believe it should receive official recognition and support – both financially and promotionally – and get highlighted as a tourism attraction.
Races are staged every Friday on the side of a busy highway in Saar on a 400-metre make-shift race track created by donkey owners and fans, with riders vying for first place in three different categories – beginners, juniors and champions.
The GDN was on the scene of the Bar Saar Races (which is Arabic for Saar Desert Races) and witnessed high levels of competitiveness, dozens of donkeys in full flight with men and boys hanging on for dear life and many fanatical fans cheering on their favourite jockeys.
“Vegetable vendors used to tie up their donkeys at our old home’s window and that is when I fell in love with this strong and often misunderstood animal,” said race director Ali Al Thawadi – who has been involved in the sport for more than 35 years.
“These races have been around for forever – certainly ever since I was a young boy and they are an integral part of our heritage. I have passed on the love of donkeys and donkey racing to my son who is also a racer.
“We have a committee of volunteers who tirelessly organise a race every week and enthusiasts pool together their money for the prizes and trophies.
“It’s a highly-organised community initiative aimed at ensuring the youth remain occupied by sports instead of picking up bad habits when left to their own devices. It’s also keeping a heritage activity alive.”
Mr Al Thawadi, who owns a donkey farm, has been supporting the races and supplying donkeys to competitors.
He believes that although the initiative remains community-run, government support could help further elevate the activity as it already attracts visitors from across the causeway.
“This is part of our traditional heritage that doesn’t appear to be seen in other GCC countries. It could be an excellent form of tourism attraction, as we already have visitors from Saudi Arabia regularly driving down for the races,” he added.
“If we had more support, the entire mechanism could become more professional.”
As support for the suggestion, donkey racing is already a huge tourism draw in a few countries around the world.
While Formula 1 is where dare-devils go head-to-head on a professionally made track, donkey racing in Kenya will leave you just as breathless and excited, according to holiday promoters.
“Every year, the sports event attracts thousands of tourists to watch skilled donkeys race against each other,” a tourism spokesperson said.
“During the famous Lamu Cultural Festival, the sport is the highlight, with the winner rewarded handsomely.”
Donkeys are cemented in the ancient land of Lamu, which is amongst the country’s oldest residential places for the Swahili community.
And in the US, it is a sport indigenous to the State of Colorado, deeply rooted to its mining heritage. In the early days of the industry, miners would take ‘burros’, which is the Spanish word for donkeys, through the mountains of Colorado while prospecting.
Bahrain boasts its own donkey racing professionals nowadays such as rider Sayed Hussain Al Mosawi – who has been racing for around 17 years. “These races are extremely competitive and hard and circumstances change in split seconds which makes it even more exciting,” he noted.
He dismisses any suggestion the sport is cruel and said the donkeys love the action as much as the riders. The animals wouldn’t run if they didn’t want too, all the enthusiasts agreed, as the animals have an infamous tendency of being as stubborn as, well, a donkey.
(Video by Hussain Almosawi)
Over the years, donkeys have gotten a bad reputation as being ornery and generally hard to work with.
There are two types of races – bareback and by hitching a cart to the donkey.
“There are different categories that we implement every week with the race and the distances usually differ per category,” Mr Al Mosawi noted.
“For beginners, for example, it ranges from 300m to 500m while for juniors it ranges from 400m to 600m. However, for the champion’s level, the distance is generally chosen through a draw so it’s different every time.”
He revealed, however, that due to a recent problem with the railing at the race track, the races have been limited to 400m for all levels for the time being.
He also added that donkeys are categorised based on their level and their speed.
Meanwhile, riders can progress in the categories based on their performance, eventually reaching the champions’ level.
Mr Al Mosawi has expressed concerns about the future of the sport. “One of the main challenges that we are facing is that there has been a decrease in the farms and locations where donkeys can be bred, trained and kept,” he added.
“We used to rent farm space but many land owners are now heading towards urbanising neighbourhoods, which has led to a major reduction in the land available.”
Race commentator Mohammed Abdulmahdi also stressed the importance of generating more support for the traditional sport due to its connection to the heritage of Bahraini villages, especially those in the Northern Governorate.
He added that visitors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait often drive down on a weekly basis, which could further nourish the tourism sector if the sport was officially supported and promoted regionally.
“We spare no efforts in raising the donkeys well and we feed them the best horse food there is on the market,” he said.
“The race track created in Saar has developed slowly over the years. We’re proud of our efforts and how far we’ve developed the sport on our own, but proper support would take it even further.”
The race takes place every Friday and for more details, visit @bar_saar_races on Instagram.
DONKEY FACT FILE
DONKEY, (Equus asinus), also called burro, is a domestic ass belonging to the horse family, Equidae, and descended from the African wild ass (Equus africanus).
It is known to have been used as a beast of burden since 4000BC.
Although slower than horses, donkeys are sure-footed and can carry heavy loads over rough terrain.
Donkeys walk at the same speed as a human -- about 6.4 kilometres per hour -- but can run nearly as fast as horses.
According to Guinness World Records, the fastest horse recorded was Winning Brew, who ran a quarter-mile at 43.97mph (71kmph).
An Asiatic wild ass can gallop as fast as 70kmph, but the speed of domesticated donkeys will vary according to their size, fitness and motivation, with top speed reaching about 64kmph.
Most donkeys will run much slower, averaging 48 to 56kmph over short distances.
• Donkeys can live for more than 50 years.
• Donkeys are very strong and intelligent.
• A donkey is stronger than a horse of the same size.
• Donkeys have an incredible memory – they can recognise areas and other donkeys they were with up to 25 years ago.
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